It is well known in the art that, in the context of a retail environment, illumination of products on display has an impact on sales and the overall customer experience. More particularly, it is known that proper illumination of products on display has a positive effect on sales of the particular products.
In view of the above, fluorescent tubes are commonly used to illuminate an interior space of shelving. For example, in order to properly illuminate products or items disposed on a shelf, it is known to provide shelf lighting, i.e. a lighting configuration designed to illuminate a section of shelf containing a plurality of products or items on display and which extends between a front end and a back end of the shelf. Typically, a fluorescent tube is mounted above the shelf to be illuminated and is positioned to illuminate the entire section of the shelf where the products or items are located. For aesthetic considerations, the fluorescent tubes are therefore commonly hidden under each shelf, in order to illuminate the products on the shelf below.
Particularly of concern is the positioning of the fluorescent tubes which is typically unfavourable. Indeed, in order to provide lighting of the entire section of the shelf where the products or items are located, between the front end and the back end of the shelf, the fluorescent tubes are commonly positioned rearward of the front end of the above shelf and recessed from the front end of the above shelf. Such a positioning thereby negatively impacts both the illumination of the merchandise as it does not allow optimal illumination of the face of the product at the front of the shelf. Moreover, such a positioning also negatively impacts the access to products or items by the customers and/or the retrieval of the products from the shelf.
In view of the above, there is a need for an improved manner of providing a light source onto shelving, which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.